1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital camera wherein a user can take a picture of an object by looking at a screen of a display unit while holding the digital camera by hand.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, for users' convenience, smaller and slimmer digital cameras have been manufactured. Digital camera display units such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), however, are required to be large to improve visibility of an image when determining a photograph range during photographing, or checking or processing a photographed image. Also, the size of a user grip of a miniaturized slim digital camera inevitably becomes small and, thus, the user cannot stably support the digital camera when photographing. Therefore, a small and slim digital camera with an improved grip is required.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-309740 discloses a digital camera having a rotatable grip, of the same thickness as the main body of the digital camera, separately mounted on a side of the main body. Thus, the grip can protrude further outward than the main body by rotating the grip. As a result, a user can hold the grip, and take a photograph of an object while the digital camera is in a stable state. Also, the digital camera can be slim, since the grip can be disposed so that it does not protrude from the main body when not photographing. Although this digital camera provides an improved grip, a separate grip having the same thickness as the main body of the digital camera is required. Therefore, such a digital camera has an undesirable increased width.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-266694 discloses a digital camera having a main body of the digital camera, a rotation axis formed at the rear of the main body and that coincides with an optical axis, and a display cabinet (display unit) that is rotatably coupled to the main body to be able to rotate with respect to the rotation axis. Thus, a user can rotate the display cabinet to place it in a location convenient for the user to see the display cabinet. In such a digital camera, the display cabinet can be rotated with respect to the main body of the digital camera and the main body protruding by the rotation of the display cabinet can be used as the grip. This digital camera, however, is not as stable as desired.